Last year, the state counted 84,096 children in home schooling, up 9.6 percent from a year earlier. The number of families involved rose by a much smaller 2.6 percent, suggesting that a big chunk of the growth could be related to youngsters in those families growing old enough for school.

Three Tampa area school districts landed in the top 10 statewide for having the most home-schooling students. Hillsborough came in third, with 5,560, while Pinellas ranked ninth with 3.089 and Pasco rounding out the list with 3,011. At the top was Duval County’s 6,106 students.